Always learning: Officials describe work required of firefighters

Monday

Editor's note: This is the second in a three-part series about area volunteer fire departments and the work that goes into keeping them in operation.

Editor's note: This is the second in a three-part series about area volunteer fire departments and the work that goes into keeping them in operation.

About a dozen people take turns breathing into lifeless dummies.

“Look, listen and feel for a pulse,” said Pumpkin Center Volunteer Fire Department Deputy Chief Jeremy Foster, as he stands in front of the class. “Do 30 chest compressions to the xiphoid process rhythmically ... Try to think about the song “Stayin' Alive.”

It's training night at Pumpkin Center VFD, something that takes place three Tuesdaysout of every month at their facilities on New Bern Highway. One Tuesday always is reserved for a business meeting. Foster said training sessions include lessons on pulling a fire hose, riding and operatingfire trucks and vehicle extraction — all things that those who want to join an area department are expected to learn since actually fighting fires is just one part of the job.

“Sixty percent of our calls are car wrecks with about 20 percent coming for public service calls and the other 20 percent are actual fires,” Foster said.

Volunteer firefighters also come from all walks of life but share one key trait: a desire to serve their communities. But not everyone will make it on to a roster. And not everyone should.

“We use a spreader (a device that helps extract people from cars) that weighs about 37 pounds, and when you're carrying that for 15 to 20 minutes, it gets very heavy ... When we respond to a wreck, there's stuff we see that's not meant for the naked eye. You have to be able to cope with that as well.”

Foster also cited flexibility, a high level of endurance and solid upper body strength as physical prerequisites for firefighting. A firefighter must be prepared to carry an air pack on their back that weighs approximately 30 pounds and a turnout kit that adds an extra 10 pounds. Foster said a firefighter also has to be ready to carry injured colleagues and civilians out of harm's way.

There is more to firefighting than physical strength, though, and according to Foster, keeping a cool head is the only way to fight fires that can reach temperatures over 1,000 degrees.

“When you're in there, you have to have your wits about you and be able to make quick decisions,” Foster said. “Half of the decisions we make are made in a snap, and you only have seconds to make a Plan A and a Plan B to attack the fire.

The training sessions are not only an important part of members’ learning base, but a way to gain membership. Pumpkin Center VFD requires prospects to attend a month's worth of departmental meetings, as well as complete a 90-day long probationary period, before they become full-fledged members of the department. All that comes after prospects complete a three-page application asking for references as well as previous firefighting experience. Foster said this process allows Pumpkin Creek VFD members get an understanding of what kind of person they may be letting into their department.

“We've had people come through the door and then we'll never see them again,” Foster said. “You have to be committed to this if you want to wear the helmet. This becomes a second family and you get to know what you and everyone else is capable of.”

Brian Romans, fire chief for Bear Creek VFD in Hubert, said honesty and commitment are essential traits for anyone wanting to join the department, partially due to the fact that the equipment used to save lives belongs to those they're saving.

“It's not ours, it's the community's and we have to look out for that,” Romans said. “We need people who are going to give us 100 percent and not just respond to the big calls. We're not here to be heroes. We need people who just want to help the community. That's one of our biggest things.”

Romans said prospects are taken around the firehouse and introduced to people they hope to call colleagues once all is said and done. Afterward, the application process begins, which includes filling out an application form and getting a background check through the Onslow County Sheriff's Office. If their application passes and the background check comes back clear, they're put in front of a board where they are interviewed.

“We want to get a feel for them and see what kind of person they are,” Romans said. “We ask them 'Why do you want to join?' and 'What can you offer the community?'.The board decides whether or not to make them a probationary member of the department.”

The probationary period lasts for four months, a time which Romans says prospects have to show members that they “want to be there” by going out for calls and attending events hosted by the department. After their time as a probationary member is completed, a vote is taken on whether they will be a full-term member of the department.

“Some people consider it a large feat or overcoming a large hurdle,” Romans said. “Some view it as a rite of passage and others see it as the opportunity to not be called 'probie' anymore.”

Carolton Beall was a firefighter long before coming to Hubert in 2004. The Maryland native fought fires at high-rise apartments in the Washington, D.C. suburbs in the early ’90s before becoming a corpsman with the Navy. Beall said his initial interaction with Bear Creek VFD came when his daughter joined the junior division of the department to earn SAT hours, but found another family after becoming a member.

“People who want to give back seem to find each other and join together,” Beall said. “When we're not busy, we're always hanging out or joking around ... There's a lot of laughter. That's the way it is, wherever you go.”

For Capt. Phillip Dallas of the Half Moon Fire Department, firefighting is in the blood. He is a fifth-generation firefighter who remembers going on calls with his father while growing up in Catskills, N.Y. Dallas sees himself walking in the footsteps of predecessors, not only as a firefighter, but as someone who is passionate about firefighting.

“They all lived doing what they wanted to do,” Dallas said. “My dad was a firefighter who retired recently and he misses it. I'm just following in their footsteps.”

Dallas said his involvement with the Half Moon VFD is steeped not only in tradition, but in his own love for firefighting, something he also calls his profession. Dallas is a professional firefighter on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.

“There are three things you'll see in a community that keeps it together,” Dallas said. “You have the post office, the church and the local firehouse. That's where everyone goes. I'm proud to do what I do.”

Christopher Thomas is a staff writer at The Daily News. Contact him at 910-219-8473 or Christopher.Thomas@jdnews.com.

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